Alibaba has swapped out the leader of DingTalk, its workplace collaboration app, following internal disagreements about how the platform fits into the company’s broader artificial intelligence strategy.
What happened at DingTalk
DingTalk is Alibaba’s answer to Slack or Microsoft Teams, a workplace communication and collaboration app that had reached 700 million users by the end of 2023.
DingTalk founder Chen Hang returned as CEO of the app in March 2025 after a period away from the company.
Former DingTalk AI product head Ma Ruila completed his departure from the company on May 15, 2026. He later published an essay laying out his views on the strategic disputes that had been simmering internally.
